2
and the deceased wearing engagement rings. At the same time he was
told by one of the friends that he should not try to date"
in the future. The accused became noticeably restless and fidgety
on realising the significance of the meeting. In his evidence he said
that he could not sleep when he returned home and eventually penned
a letter of which one part was addressed to his mother and the other
to
He marked the time "4.51" on the letter. The
document was put in evidence and referred to as "the suicide note".
went to intercept
Later that morning, that is, on 20th September, 1980 he
on her way to work. At about 9 a.m.
walking to work with the deceased.
He tried
he met her as she was
to persuade
to come to his home to show her the letter
The evidence by
and by the accused
but she refused to go.
showed quite clearly that, at that stage, the accused did not want
the deceased to accompany them. However, neither the deceased nor would agree to her accompanying the accused alone to the
latter's home and eventually all three went there.
At the premises the accused produced a scout knife and
challenged the deceased to a fight. The deceased eventually agreed
to a fist fight. The accused punched the deceased and knocked him
down. The deceased struck no blow at the accused. The telephone
rang and while the accused was answering it he saw
and the
deceased whisper to one another then dash from the sitting room area
of the flat to other rooms, and lock themselves in. The accused
forced open the door of the room where
was,
pulled her out
The accused
and asked her to coax the deceased out. She refused. then began slashing at the door of the room into which the deceased had gone, using the scout knife and a bread knife one in each hand. Eventually, after wrecking the door he made his way into that room.
then escaped through the front door calling for help.
The accused gave evidence that the deceased rushed towards him holding something and that as he, the accused, was holding the scout knife in his right hand at the time, the deceased was stabbed